Kim, You should have plenty of time to start seeds. I just started some (not all) of my tomatoes early to give me the option to put my own plants in the ground, if I choose, instead of buying that handful of extra early plants in late January or early February when they first show up in stores. I still don't think my plants will be large enough to be ready to bloom at the same time that the early plants arrive in the stores....so it is doubtful I'll be able to resist buying at least a couple of the plants that are on the verge of blooming. We'll see. Much depends on what sort of weather Old Man Winter throws at us in January and February.

Bruce, My catalogs have slowed down a lot too, but I bet the second wave comes right after Christmas.

I already bought all the seeds I need and want, I think, so anything else I buy (with whatever money Santa doesn't spend) would be, um, I guess impulse buys. Also totally unnecessary. If I just wouldn't open up and peruse any remaining catalogs that arrive, I could avoid the whole impulse shopping thing....and there is zero chance I won't look at those catalogs when I bring them up from the mailbox.

Dawn

I meant to say trickling in! Still I'm trying to keep from getting lured in and cast under their spell!

I really hope I succeed at cutting way back at least until I get my house built.

It is hard to avoid being lured in, and the retailers know that. I think it is not a coincidence that the catalogs arrive at our homes during the dreary winter season.

Look at this

Kim, I've done that before with the BI seed packets. Also, with some of the Burpee heirloom packets from the late 1990s, when they used to put old artwork of the heirloom tomatoes on their heirloom seed packets. Livingston Seeds used to have really colorful packets that made great decorations on a garden-themed Christmas tree, and the Renee's Garden seed packets really are pretty too and can be used the same way.

In our first few years that we lived here, for maybe 6 or 8 years, I had a Christmas tree in every room of the house and decorated them in different themes. Even the screened-in porch had a Christmas tree, and I usually decorated it either in a garden theme with seed packets, trowels, child-sized tools, etc., or in an outdoors theme with animals and buffalo check ribbon and burlap ribbon, etc. In the bedrooms and bathrooms there were tiny tabletop trees, but in the other rooms the trees were big and beautiful. Then I got older and more tired and got rid of a lot of the Christmas stuff and now only put up a tree in the living room. It wasn't putting up all the decorations that got so old as I really enjoyed that part----it was taking them down and putting all of that stuff away in the attic for another year. I kinda miss having the whole house decked out for Christmas, but I also like keeping life simpler and easier nowadays.

Dawn

The first 9 years I was married I did the same thing. Trees everywhere decorations galore but since I divorced I really don't do much. This year I have one ornament. I am going to get a little tree for Ryder to decorate after Christmas. He will be back the 7th so we will have ours then. It will be fun even if it's 2 weeks late.

Kim

I agree it will be fun even if later. In fact, it is kinda nice as it spreads out his Christmas fun over a longer period of time.

Well he gets so much attention and presents that it all is overwhelming. When we get home and slow down he can enjoy his quiet time with granny.

I don't even have a real Christmas tree. Check mine out:

Moni it is beautiful! I found some of my Christmas stuff but I do not feel like going through 10 bins. I will do something.

We always have a live tree. But they're getting so expensive I think we will have to go to a smaller artificial tree when DH retires.. I'm sure those ornaments have special meaning. Both my mother and I gave the kids an ornament every year so they would have their own to start when they moved into their own place. The only one who's taken his ornaments is my youngest and the dogs ate a bunch of them when they put their tree up. despite having no children they have a pen system around the tree to keep the animals away. My expensive tree is still in the garage.

Kim, Quiet time with granny is the best time. I agree that most young kids get so much at Christmas time nowadays that it is overwhelming for them.

Moni, I love your tree and I think it is a real Christmas tree. Just because it is not a traditional evergreen doesn't mean it isn't real.

Amy, I think live Christmas trees are gorgeous but for the last few years we've had an artificial tree. I like not having to sweep up falling needles and also not having to keep putting water in the tree stand's water reservoir.

We got paged out to a fire in the middle of the night in town in Marietta that sounded like it began with an electrical outlet on the exterior of a home--probably one that had Christmas lights plugged into it. Luckily that fire was small and easily extinguished very quickly. It is shocking how often these kinds of fires start in the winter and during the holiday season.

It is sunshiny and warm today---we're already in the upper 40s, but the wind still makes it feel pretty wintery outside. So, it looks better than it feels but at least it looks nice out there, and I'm pretty warm here indoors.

Dawn

My husband's family was burned out on Christmas Eve when he was a child. He's very touchy about lights.

Many years ago I worked at Target over Christmas. It was when they had first started staying open late. Golly, 10 o'clock was late in those days. It was ugly. We saw customers at the end of long days with crying children and cranky parents. I was really depressed. I don't do well with Christmas to begin with. we had gotten an artificial tree two years before. Over the summer the dogs chewed up the tree and it could not be put together. My husband went out and found a real live tree on half price and it was the most beautiful tree we ever had. It smelled wonderful it was perfectly shaped and it made my Christmas . I swore after that we would never have an artificial tree. When we moved to Owasso we started going to the Christmas tree farm where they have a hay ride out to where the trees are and you can cut down your own tree. The kids had fun and of course fought over who got to cut the tree down. Afterwards you get hot apple cider when you pay for the tree. This really is my favorite thing about the holiday. But I don't see how we can continue to pay those kind of prices for a tree. My children go to the tree farm so I will just have to go with them.

This is my first Christmas at home, since my divorce. First, with the daughter and family in ABQ, then with the other one, but no real Christmas spirit... she is a non believer and vegan, then with a friend in Florida, Orlando, then with the same girl friend in Galveston, last year again with the vegan daughter, and this year, I will be here. It was time to dig out the Christmas stuff. But, honest, the biggest bulk of it goes to a family that lost everything in a fire, and just a few remain behind for me. I don't think I will ever go all out again, and will prolly always have a tree like this one.

Moni

We made it up to 59 degrees today, but it was a cold 59, when decreasing sunlight as the day went on and clouds moved in, and a little windy, with a few small fires.

Two catalogs came in the mail today: Tomato Growers Supply Company and Kitazawa Seed. I don't think I need anything from either of them, and if I wanted to buy any more tomato varieties to play around with, I'd probably order them from Totally Tomatoes because their prices are a little better on most things.

I have to be in the mood to deck the halls any more, and certainly to really go all out decorating (which I doubt I'll ever do again). I have purged so much stuff, including Christmas stuff, over the last couple of years that I couldn't go all out decorating if I even wanted to, unless I bought new stuff (which I won't do) and getting rid of a lot of it was liberating. My preferred decorations nowadays are simple things---a small living tree, an evergreen wreath hanging on the front door, a rosemary topiary, pots of amaryllis, paperwhite narcissus and a Christmas cactus in bloom.

Honestly, when we look back at past Christmases, dating back to our childhoods or our son's childhood or whatever, what we all talk about now is the people, especially the ones who have been gone for so long now (decades!) that it gets harder and harder every year to remember the sounds of their voices. We love all the old stories....of what our grandparents' Christmases were like in the early 1900s, and our parents' Christmases in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, and our childhood Christmases from the 1960s and 1970s or Chris' and his cousins' Christmases form the mid 1980s and 1990s.

We talk about who got thrown off a horse, or who fell off the porch or who got hit in the head when pushing a cousin in the swing set. We remember different siblings and cousins singing "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" when they were the ones missing those teeth at Christmas time. We laugh and talk about silly things that were stuffed in stockings and we remember the perfect flavor of one aunt's yummy divinity and fudge or another aunt's pumpkin roll, and the way any meal served by my mom always had burned dinner rolls. Always. She always forgot them until we smelled them burning in the oven and, as odd as that was, it happened so consistently it was a strange holiday tradition. Now, no matter whose house we're at and who is in the kitchen cooking dinner, we remind one another to NOT forget the rolls and continue the burned dinner roll tradition.

We remember going caroling around the neighborhood when we were at Aunt Osa's house, or playing in one room while the parents played dominoes in another. We laugh about who cried when visiting Santa and posing for a photo with him. We remember my grandmother, then in her very late 80s or early 90s, gathering all her great-grandchildren in front of her in her later years, telling them a Christmas story, and giving them their gifts. We don't even remember the gifts, but we remember her sitting there, frail but resilient in her last years, her hair snowy white by then, basking in the glow of those very young great-grandchildren. It is the togetherness we remember, not the gifts or even the decorations.

We remember dressing up, going to church, going to Christmas parades and festivals and bazaars. The memories matter so much more than the material stuff, and I hope (and believe) that is the lesson we have passed on to our children and continue to pass on to their children.

Christmas means so many things to so many people, but the older I get, the more I just want to keep it really simple, relaxing and sweet.

I think the best part is doing nice things for others. We seem to give more during the holidays time love gifts homemade or store bought that it just makes it perfect. Many times in the past I had to give time and cookies, it was all I had but do you know those are the gifts my nephews remember. I make a point to spend time with people that need it and then you dont remember your own needs lol

Have a lot to say...loved reading your comments/posts here. But, there's too much to say, so I won't say anything other than I really enjoyed reading your posts.

OklaMoni, I really like the sun ornament on your simple and very cute little tree.

Kim, I prefer giving homemade gifts too. This holiday season we've given away around 300 jars of canned goodies from our garden, which is a fun way to keep sharing the garden produce even in the dead of winter. I've also baked and given a ton of cookies too. It is one of my favorite things to do. If I ever give my friends a Christmas gift that doesn't include jars from the garden and homemade cookies, they'll pass out from the shock of it.

For the little kids, of course we buy them toys. When you're 4 or 6 or 8 years old, that's what you want and it is what you expect. However, our grandnieces and grandnephews are perfectly thrilled if they receive a batch of cookies too. They are appreciative of any gift given to them. I'm the cookie person who always gets the 'assignment' to bring homemade cookies to family holiday gatherings since I enjoy baking so much.

Hazel, There are so many things I wish I had appreciated as a child. I'm pretty sure that at family Christmas gatherings back then, we kids were all about the toys and nothing but the toys. lol. That is so funny now, because I really don't remember what those toys were but I remember everything about the people and places where we gathered.

Here we are, on the shortest day of the year, officially in winter now, and Christmas is just a few days away. Know what that means? Beginning tomorrow, the days start getting longer again, although it is hard to tell at first since the day length increases by such a small amount. I know, though, that by sometimes in January, we'll really be able to tell each day is a little longer than the one before.

We're going to enjoy Christmas, as always, but the minute it is over, I'll be watching the stores for the arrival of plants and seeds and supplies. For me, the first day after Christmas that I spot a gardening-related something (anything!) in the store, that's a day that's almost more fun than Christmas.

Dawn

Yahooey for longer days! !! As much as I enjoy the holidays is it wrong to want to be over and get into the new garden season. I will enjoy every second I can with my family but I so want to begin planning cleanup planting wintersowing playing in some sort of soil

Hooray for longer days. They can't come soon enough. I guess the winter soltice explains the blinding afternoon sun yesterday while shopping. Why does it seem brighter this time of year and hurt your eyes?

We put our Christmas tree up last night. I am feeling a little more Christmasy. I was trying to remember past Christmases and what stands out to me. Besides the tree episode I mentioned above one that stands out most to me is when both DH and I had the flu and the kids got frozen pizza for dinner. they loved it. Our first Christmas together we went to New Jersey to see DH's family. We went again about four years later. And four years after that. Coincidentally I had children proximately 9 months after each of those visits. The children weren't necessarily conceived then but I always said there was something in New Jersey water. The vast majority of our Christmases were spent with my family. Sometimes my in-laws were there as well. There were always Christmas Pageants the children were involved in. And I relate to the Christmas hymns from when I was young. I couldn't conjure up distinct memories of my childhood Christmases. Am I that old? Pretty sure that there were big meals. and probably my grandmother was there. One year in junior high I crocheted Berets for everyone I knew.

I started working on my seed purchase list last night. Come on spring!

Amy, I think the light was blinding because our eyes had forgotten what sunlight looked like. I did notice the same thing while out shopping over the weekend---the light coming in through the car windows was hitting me right in the eyes and it was irritating. I think it was my fault, too, for not wearing sunglasses. I wear sunglasses religiously in the summer, but slack off on wearing them in the winter.

Starting today, each day gets a little longer. For today, the daylength is only a couple of seconds longer than yesterday, but the amount of increased daylength escalates rapidly day by day.

I tried to work on a seed order yesterday but our internet service was down almost the entire day, so I didn't get very far. Oh well, think of the money it saved me, and I doubt I'll have time to work on it today because I have a lot of presents to wrap and baking to do.

I love your Christmas memories. Let's face it, we are older. Not old. Just older than we once were. For me, "old" is always going to be whatever age I am plus 20 years. I am 57 years old and, when I was a teenager, I certainly thought that people in their 50s were very, very, very old. Now that I am in my 50s, it doesn't seem so old. Imagine that! In fact, I used to think that 70-something would be old, but the closer I get to 70, the younger it seems. Anyhow, age is a state of mind. I know people in the 40s who seem old already and people in their 90s who seem young. It just depends on how a person chooses to live their life.

Dawn

My 81 year old friend is more active and young than most people I know half her age

Exactly! I have two neighbors who are in the mid-90s and they get around better and do more than lots of people who are decades younger. Both of them were more active in their 80s than they are now, and I think they find being in the 90s frustrating in terms of having mobility issues and having to slow down---at least they are frustrated until they consider the alternative.

The catalog that arrived today is from The Natural Gardening Company. It comes from the oldest certified organic nursery in the USA, based in Petaluma, CA. I haven't had a chance to go through it yet, but it usually has a fairly basic selection of O-P and hybrid seeds, some plants and some gardening tools/equipment. Every now and then I'll see something new in it that catches my eye.

Someone posted a picture of Valentine stuff on the shelves of a store today.

Yep.

I do remember Christmases pretty clearly--even the gifts, at least some of them.

Age 4: "Little People" schoolhouse playset and some fake barbies that I saw in Buchanan grocery store and really wanted.

Age 5: A Crissy doll in a long green dress that had auburn hair (same color as mine) that "grew" and a stuffed black poodle that was also a radio.

Age 6: Malibu Barbie, Ken, and Skipper with a camper and boat.

and I could go on....

It was a magical time for me. My Mom always went overboard, as did her Mom and as do I.

Looked at the garden today. Still need to cut back the asparagus. The herbs looked bad...even the rosemary.

Dawn, thanks for suggesting that Stella could be a Minorca. As I was standing in line at Tractor Supply today, I picked up a chicken breed magazine. I really think that is what she is. They can also come as bantams, which would explain her small size. It did mention that they aren't great in cold weather, but good for hot weather climates. I didn't mention this earlier because I feel a little ashamed of it...but I think she got a bit of frost bite on her comb last weekend--just on the tips. She seems to be okay, though.

Gardening is always on the back of my mind, but I'm keeping it there now and focusing on the season. So happy to be off of work (mostly) for a couple of weeks. The Winter Solstice Party went exceptionally well. We made sun ornaments and decorated sun-shaped cookies...and threw our items that we want to "bring to light" in 2017 into the fire pit. It was a bit too windy for a bon fire.

I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays and resting up for gardening season! Just think...we will be complaining about the heat soon enough.

Hazel, I hate the way they rush the next holiday stuff in before the current holiday has even occurred. I haven't seen any Valentine's Day merchandise in stores yet, but then I haven't been in a store since Sunday either.

Aren't Christmas memories fun? My parents did not go overboard at Christmas, but I tended to go overboard when buying for Chris and our nieces and nephews when they were young. I still go overboard when buying for our grand nieces and grand nephews, but that's partly because their families struggle financially and I want to make sure the kids get enough toys for Christmas.

I tried to get a photo of our silly baby chickens yesterday. All 15 of them have been allowed to go outside and free range with the other chickens for the last two days, although it has been too chilly for them at times. Yesterday they all were bunched up in the doorway of the coop in one big cluster, trying to stay warm in there but allowing themselves to at least look outdoors. It was so cute, but as I tried to get closer to take a photo, they scattered and ran all over the coop. Apparently they are camera shy.

If Stella is a banty, it will be easy to tell because her eggs will be smaller than the others. Don't fret over the frostbite on the comb. It happens sometimes and the hens usually recover just fine. Even with adequate heat available in the coop, some chickens just won't stay near enough the heat to avoid frostbite. Or, they get it after they're allowed out of the coop in the daytime hours on days that the temperature stays pretty cold all day. You know, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

I'm glad the Winter Solstice party went so well. It sounds like fun.

I hope we won't be complaining about the heat for a good long while yet, but it inevitably will happen at some point. I'd love to have a long winter/spring with mild weather before the heat of summer sets in.

Dawn

DH went out to close up the chickens last night. Speckles was missing. She somehow got into the yard behind us. Of course she couldn't figure out how she did it, couldn't get back and the neighbors weren't home. D h had to break a hole in the fence and then she trotted in. It surprised me a little because it was almost completely dark and I was afraid she would pick a spot to roost for the night. But as he said she came to the light. The flashlight.

Amy, Speckles likes to whip out a surprise a day, doesn't she? I'm glad she came back and it is hysterical that she came to the light. I wonder if her guardian angel was whispering in her ear to "go toward the light"? It makes you wonder what she'll do next. I have had chickens try to walk into the house right behind me, and sometimes they make it across the threshold before I turn to close the open door and see them. All I have to do is turn around and look at them and they turn and run back out the door, across the porch and down the porch steps. Chickens not only are useful garden companions, they're good for an occasional laugh too.

Dawn

The latest catalogs to arrive are from Jung Seed & Plants, Territorial Seed and Burpee. I haven't had time to look at them yet, but there is a corn variety on the back cover of the Burpee catalog that produces huge ears.

Apparently, the universe has decided I don't need to order any more seed, even though I was (mostly) ordering stuff I don't have yet. (Really!) There's something up with my card going through at SESE, and I've emailed them because I can't call during work (their winter phone hours are 10-2 our time). And, I can't get into my cart at Remy's at all. I do have some dwarf Sugar Ann peas, some Red Salad Bowl lettuce, and orange coneflowers already coming, but I do need a few more things. Need. Really.

Oooops. Maybe their systems are clogged from holiday traffic or something. Keep trying. You must feed the need to order seed.

Oh, Fedco, SSE, and Sustainable have all gotten orders tonight. SESE's loss. Apparently the problem at Remy's is with PayPal. I don't use PayPal, but they control their ordering system.

I'm afraid to order because the card I want to use was just activated today. PayPal won't let me change the card on their site, keeps telling me to come back later. IDK if it is them or my card. ::tapping foot:: I am ready to spend my money!

I apparently already know I like Bronze Mingonette lettuce, because I ordered it from two different sources. I did that on purpose with Little Leaf cukes, but not the lettuce.

My seeds have been ordered. I had more trouble with sold out varieties than ever before. And trying to search for things i had found just days before that suddenly weren't there (misspelled). I love Sample seed shop, but the website is frustrating.

Of course I have more seeds than room to plant. Now I have to decide what tomatoes make the cut...

What varieties seem to be in short supply, Amy? At least you got your seeds ordered. That's progress.

Every tomato variety that I grow will make the cut and at least one plant of that variety will make it into the garden. The rest go to friends and to the Spring Fling. This is why I try so hard to control my Grow List....because I know that no variety gets cut after it manages to survive until transplanting time. If I cannot cut it off the list before I start seeds, I'm certainly not going to cut it afterward. My garden always has too many tomatoes, but if there's one thing it is hard to get upset about, it is the "problem" of having too many tomatoes.

There were three or four things I had planned on buying which were out of stock by the time I went for it. Most where herbs. I was going to get white sage and it was out wherever I planned to get it. The mountain mint I wanted was a plant and not seeds and I chose not to do that. I think there was a carrot that I was going to get and it was out by the time I went to buy it. I didn't buy that many tomatoes this year. I have so many that I haven't used yet. I got Amy's apricot, Sioux, Pink Berkely Tie dye and Adelaide Festival. You know I just want everything from kitazawa, I really have to rein myself in when I get on their site. Part of the problem was I had misspelled things on my list so when I searched they weren't there. I bought from 2 new-to-me companies, Wildseed Farms and Uprising Seeds. I bought alot of ornamentals/wild flowers. Got a wild flower mix to sow in the drainage ditch outside my fence. THREE turnip varieties, ROFL, I don't know why. It seems like Nelson carrots are harder to find, so I have some new carrots to try. Sculpit, an herb I had never heard of, so of course I bought it.

Poor Dawn, maybe everyone will be hung over today and stay inside and not burn stupid stuff.

I know what you mean about not cutting anything after starting seeds. I can't even part with the ones in solo cups. I keep wasting water on them, they are my babies.

I watered yesterday. I really can't believe I'm watering now! But I watered the purple bed, the garlic, the asparagus, the greens the chickens desimated (there is spinach sprouting in there), pots and the green house.

Man, SSE is fast on the shipping. I ordered Wednesday night, and they were in my box on Saturday. Speckled Roman, Soldacki, and Isis Candy tomatoes, and Zulu Prince painted daisies. Also got some dwarf Sugar Ann peas from another source. May have to order more from SSE. Good group to support too.

I think I am going to mosey on over to a few seed sites today and shop. My birthday is this week so maybe happy birthday to me!! Amy, you mentioned a wildflower mix to sow in the drainage ditch...what did you get? We have somewhat of a small creek bed behind us that I'd love to toss in some wildflower mix. It's just weeds in there that creep closer to our privacy fence and it's a pain to mow them over. I say it's a creek bed (ish) because it looks like it has the potential to retain rainwater if we were to get enough. There are some weeping willows that I would LOVE to kill off. They keep trying to spread into our yard around our septic system and I don't need that headache.

I've never purchased from SSE so I'm headed there first. You all seem to like them pretty well. How about Eden Brothers? I just ran across them somehow. What about My Patriot Supply?

I think I am in the mood to plant some seeds today but darn it I don't have any dirt, lol. Maybe I could get Lilo to go till up some for me in the raised beds. Gave her a pigs ear that came in her Bark Box and she hid it in the yard last night. She always chews her other chewies right away but this she didn't. I couldn't find it and then this morning she came back to the door with it then tried to hide it in the house. Couldn't find a good enough place apparently so she wanted back outside. I watched her and she disappeared for a few, then wanted back in "without" it. She had dirt on her face and her paws.......silly girl.

• I got the TX/ OK mix from wildseed Farms. 1/4 lb for $11+. The city worked in our ditch last year, and they sodded the other peoples sections, but not ours. Personally, I would rather have white Dutch clover, and I threw some seed for that out there in Nov, but it's been so dry I don't know how it will do.

• I have a list, Melissa, of vendors. Let me see if it will copy over. I have never have ordered from SSE.

• Vendor LINK Shipping

• Amishland Heirloom http://www.amishlandseeds.com/big-ole-maters.htm 5.00

• Baker Creek http://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/ 3.50

• Bountiful Gardens https://www.bountifulgardens.org <$10=3.50, <$20=4.40

• Burpee http://www.burpee.com/homepage?cid=PPC&gclid=CjwKEAiA7ejCBRDlp8uF6ezPnjoSJAAPED7M-eu7WOYAaAXiNaY8HwyIrtDz3GobiitGsRYk-Y8JXxoCErrw_wcB cost

• Clear Creek http://www.clearcreekseeds.com 3.50

• Companion Plants http://companionplants.com/ 1-5 pkg =$3, 6-20=$4, 21+=$5

• Cornucopia amazon

• Dust Bowl http://dustbowlseed.com/ <11=2.95,<21=3.95,<31=4.95, $30=Free

• Double Helix http://www.doublehelixfarms.com/ 3.95,$15 min

• Duck Creek http://www.duckcreekfarms.com Sweets $20 min, 12.95 shipping

• Dixondale http://www.dixondalefarms.com/ free

• Everwilde Farms http://www.everwilde.com USPS

• Fedco https://www.fedcoseeds.com <30=5, 30+=free

• Floral Encounters http://www.floralencounters.com/ 1.05 1st pkg. +.20 ea after

• Greta's http://www.seeds-organic.com/ Canada?

• Italian Seeds and tool https://www.gourmetseed.com/ 6.75

• Johnny's http://www.johnnyseeds.com 10=$4, <30=6.75,<50=10

• Jung https://www.jungseed.com/ <=$35=5.95

• Kitazawa http://www.kitazawaseed.com priority mail rate

• Mariseeds https://www.mariannasheirloomseeds.com calculates by address

• Native Seeds http://www.nativeseeds.org ?

• Nichols https://www.nicholsgardennursery.com/store/index.php 4.95

• Onalee http://www.onalee.com/ free w/min $8 order

• Park http://parkseed.com <10=4.95, <25=6.95

• Peacefull Valley https://www.groworganic.com/ 7.99 up to 9 lbs

• Prairie Moon https://www.prairiemoon.com/ 5.00

• Pine Tree https://www.superseeds.com <$10=2.95,<20=3.95,<40=6.95

• Richters https://www.richters.com/Web_store/web_store.cgi?show=list&prodclass=Herb_and_Vegetable_Seeds&exch=USD&cart_id=4911930.17899 6.00

• Raintree http://www.raintreenursery.com/ 13.95-17.95-21.95

• Renaissance Farms http://www.mcssl.com/store/calebwarnock calculated

• Renee's Peaceful valley

• Robs Rare and Giant Seeds http://robsrareandgiantseeds.com free over $35

• Secret Seed Cartel http://secretseedcartel.com ?

• Seeds from Italy http://www.growitalian.com <$20=3.95

• Seeds N Such https://www.seedsnsuch.com/ volume discount on seed packs.

• Southern Exposure Seed Exchange https://www.southernexposure.com <$10=3.50,<30=4.40,<50=5.50

• Sandhill Preservation http://www.sandhillpreservation.com 3.00

• SAmple Seed Shop http://www.sampleseeds.com <20 pkg=4.74,<40=5.50,<60=7.50

• Strictly Medicinal https://strictlymedicinalseeds.com/pilot.asp ?

• Sustainable http://sustainableseedco.com free- 10-20 day delivery

• Swallowtail Garden Seeds https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/ 4.95, free over $40

• Territorial http://www.territorialseed.com 7.95

• Tomatofest http://store.tomatofest.com/Default.asp calculated

• Tomato Growers Supply http://www.tomatogrowers.com/HEINZ-1439-VFA/productinfo/3776/ 5.95

• Victory http://www.victoryseeds.com/?view_full_site=1 3.65?

• Wild garden seeds https://www.wildgardenseed.com/ ?

• Wildseed Farms http://www.wildseedfarms.com/mobile/mobile_shopping.php <$8=3.00, <15=5.75, <30=8.00

• Willhite http://www.willhiteseed.com/ ?

• Uprising Seeds https://uprisingorganics.com/about USPS

• Bolded companies I have ordered from or have experience with. The others I've considered, or they were the only ones that had something I was thinking about getting. Shipping notes were from Dec 2016.

Oh Amy.....now you've done it. Guess I won't be getting anything else accomplished today besides going through your vendor list. Oh my oh my. Thanks!!! I am going to copy this list over on my gardening spreadsheet so I don't lose it. I know it will still be here, but that's just me being OCD needing it on my spreadsheet.

LOL, this came from MY spreadsheet. I just make a new copy each year and add vendors and new things I want to try. There are worse ways to start the new year.

Most of the major seed companies probably get their seed supplies from pretty much the same major wholesalers, so I shop based more on price point than anything else since the seed often is from the exact same wholesaler. I do try to give the majority of my business to smaller firms (small as compared to the big guys like Burpee) that use at least some local/regional seed growers based here in the USA. I like to encourage the little guys to keep on growing.

I used to buy more from SSE, but use SESE now a lot more, and that's been a trend for quite a few years now. Both supply quality seeds, but I've found that SESE generally ships more quickly, and they feature varieties tested/grown in the southeastern USA, which has conditions similar to ours here in the southern plains.

I don't remember what I purchased from Eden Brothers in the past, but I was happy with it....whatever it was. Victory Seeds is a particular favorite of mine because they work hard to keep their heirloom tomato seeds true to type and I never get an 'off type' that bares little resemble to what it is supposed to be. They also give the true history of each heirloom variety, as it is known, with no embellishment, which is getting rare nowadays. I'm really picky about tomato varieties and if a company sends me tomato seed that is not true to type, I'm not likely to buy from them again. After doing that for a few years now, I am buying tomato seeds from increasingly fewer places.

Swallowtail Garden Seeds also ships very quickly. You normally get your seeds within just a few days of ordering them.

One of my recent catalogs was from Baker Creek. It may be just me, but I was terribly disappointed with what I ordered from Baker Creek last year. I'd ordered several of the Bumble Bee cherry tomato varieties, but every single one was a either a red cherry, or a yellow cherry. I gave so many people "purple bumblebee" plants, and none of us got a single purple bumblebee. It just was a waste for me, all the way around.

I agree with you. I have not been happy with their tomato varieties for a good decade now as I have found that all too often (not always), the tomato varieties either aren't true to type or just do not produce much per plant. I rarely buy tomato seeds from them any more, and I just hate saying that, but poor results have cost them most of my tomato seed business. When I first started buying from Baker Creek, it was a relatively young and relatively small company and I was pleased with the performance of the tomato varieties I bought from them, which seemed true to type. Not so much now, leading me to think maybe the company has grown too much too fast and that quality control has slipped.

The latest catalogs to arrive in the mail today are from Select Seed Antique Flowers (one of my long-time faves), Gempler's (gardening supplies), Stark Brothers (mostly fruit plants and nut producing plants and related supplies, but a few roses and other things as well) and Lehman's (Amish merchandise of all types, including stuff related to gardening). At least I've added some new catalogs to the top of the pile so I can do some garden dreaming during this week's dreary, cold, possibly snowy weather.

Arrrg! Select Seeds another company I have not checked out! Then someone on FB Winter Sowing posted this. Next year I may winter sow a bunch of perennials. (Not happening this year.)

There's so many company's out there. I got a couple of catalogs today. Well, Tim got one from Baker Creek (I got mine from BC quite a while ago) and I got one from Botanical Interests. While not strictly garden-related (chickens do contribute to the garden via poop for the compost pile, and by eating bugs and weed seeds), the Murray McMurry Poultry catalog came today. I need to hide it so Chris doesn't see it.

I need to get that one

You do. The problem is that it will make you want too many chickens.

The latest catalog to arrive is from Richter's Herbs.